The 118th edition of the Apple Cup on Sunday in Seattle between Washington State and No. 17 Washington might end up being one of the most-watched of all time.
With a 1 p.m. Pacific time slot, little competition — the NFL season doesn’t start until later in the week — and a national television audience on NBC, it figures that casual college football fans from around the country might tune in.
Which is exactly what the Cougars and Huskies are banking on and something the rivals can actually agree upon.
“I’m all for it. I told our team, we’re the only game at 1 o’clock,” Huskies coach Jedd Fisch said. “We’re on NBC. It’s an opportunity. Everybody that turns on the TV on Sunday in the fall is looking for football.
“So it just happens to be a surprise. It’s college, and it’s us, and that’s our hope that they all benefit from that … that all the East Coast people, the media, the teams, Central time zone, Mountain time zone, they’re all turning it on because there’s nothing else on Sunday in regards to football other than our game. Plus, it’s on the same station as the Notre Dame-Wisconsin game is, so we hope that people want to watch a doubleheader. So when (UW athletic director) Pat (Chun) came to me about doing it, I couldn’t say yes fast enough.”
The Cougars felt much the same way, though it’ll mean a short week with a 9 a.m. PDT kickoff the following Saturday in Manhattan, Kan., against Kansas State.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for our team against a top-20 team on national television as the only football game on that afternoon,” first-year Cougars coach Kirby Moore said. “Our guys understand the challenge.”
Moore, who spent the previous three seasons as the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Missouri, has deep ties to Washington and to football. His father, Tom, is a legendary coach at Prosser High School and his brother, Kellen, is the head coach of the NFL’s New Orleans Saints.
He takes over a WSU program that went 7-6 last season, including a 34-21 victory against Utah State in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
The Cougars still have a sour taste from last year’s Apple Cup. They trailed by just seven points entering the fourth quarter in Pullman, Wash., before the Huskies pulled away for a 59-24 victory with 28 unanswered points. Washington holds a 77-34-6 edge in the all-time series.
“That wasn’t our standard. That wasn’t us,” WSU defensive tackle Kaden Beatty said. “I’ve lived with that now for an entire 365 days and some. Now we can go out and show who we really are and show that last year, that wasn’t what we’re about.”
The Cougars have named Caden Pinnick, a transfer from UC Davis, as their starting quarterback. Pinnick played a game at Husky Stadium last season while with the Aggies, going 8-of-16 passing for 50 yards with one touchdown and one interception in a 70-10 defeat.
Huskies quarterback Demond Williams Jr., who had a dalliance with the transfer portal in the offseason, led Washington to a 9-4 record last season and a 38-10 victory against Boise State in the L.A. Bowl.
In last year’s Apple Cup, Williams went 16 of 19 for 288 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for 88 yards and another score.
“I told our team, I don’t know how many other games started in 1900. So, I know that no one on our team ever played in a game that’s that historical …” Fisch said. “So for us, it’s very important.”